Forward, March | Page 3

deep sigh, "I fear you will
live to discover by sad experience that pride is the most expensive of

earthly luxuries, and that one must consent to obey orders long before
he can hope to issue commands. But we will discuss your affairs later,
for now I must look over my letters."
While Mr. Norris was thus engaged, Ridge opened the morning paper,
and glanced carelessly at its headlines. Suddenly he sprang to his feet
with a shout, his dark face glowing and his eyes blazing with
excitement.
"By heavens, father!" he cried, "the United States battle-ship Maine has
been blown up in Havana Harbor with a loss of two hundred and sixty
of her crew. If that doesn't mean war, then nothing in the world's
history ever did. You needn't worry about me any more, sir, for my
duty is clearly outlined."
"What do you propose to do?" asked the elder man, curiously. "Will
you try to blow up a Spanish battle-ship in revenge?"
"No, sir. But I shall enlist at the very first call to arms, and offer my life
towards the thrashing of the cowards who have perpetrated this
incredible crime."
Thrilled to the core by the momentous news he had just read, Ridge
hastened to impart it to his mother and sister. At the same time he
ordered a horse on which he might ride to the city for further details of
the stupendous event. As he was about to depart, Spence Cuthbert and
her escort, returning from their ride, dashed up to the doorway.
"Have you heard the news?" cried Ridge, barely nodding to Dodley.
"Yes," replied Spence. "Isn't it dreadful? Mr. Dodley told me all about
it, and after hearing it I couldn't bear to ride any farther, so we came
back."
"I wish he had told me before you started," said Ridge, "so that I might
have been in the city long ago."
"You were so busily and pleasantly engaged with your roses that I

hesitated to interrupt you," murmured Herman Dodley. "Now, however,
if I can be of any assistance to you in the city, pray consider me at your
service."
"Can you assist me, sir, to obtain a commission in the army that will be
summoned to visit a terrible punishment upon Spain for her black
treachery?"
"Undoubtedly I could, and of course I would do so with pleasure if the
occasion should arise. But there won't be any war. The great Yankee
nation is too busy accumulating dollars to fight over a thing of this kind.
We will demand a money indemnity, it will be promptly paid, and the
whole affair will quickly be forgotten."
"Sir!" cried Ridge, his face pale with passion. "The man who utters
such words is at heart a traitor to his country."
"If it were not for the presence of ladies, I would call you to account for
that remark," muttered Dodley. "As it is, I shall not forget it. Ladies, I
have the honor to wish you a very good-morning."
With this the speaker, who had not dismounted, turned his horse's head
and rode away.


CHAPTER II
WAR IS DECLARED
Never was the temper and patience of the American people more sorely
tried than by the two months of waiting and suspense that followed the
destruction of their splendid battle-ship. The Maine had entered Havana
Harbor on a friendly visit, been assigned to a mooring, which was
afterwards changed by the Spanish authorities, and three weeks later,
without a suspicion of danger having been aroused or a note of warning
sounded, she was destroyed as though by a thunder-bolt. It was nearly

ten o'clock on the night of Tuesday, February 15th. Taps had sounded
and the crew were asleep in their hammocks, when, by a terrific
explosion, two hundred and fifty-eight men and two officers were
hurled into eternity, sixty more were wounded, and the superb
battle-ship was reduced to a mass of shapeless wreckage.
It was firmly believed throughout the United States that this appalling
disaster was caused by a submarine mine, deliberately placed near the
mooring buoy to which the Maine had been moved, to be exploded at a
favorable opportunity by Spanish hands.
The Spaniards, on the other side, claimed and strenuously maintained
that the only explosion was that of the ship's own magazines, declaring
in support of this theory that discipline on all American men-of-war
was so lax as to invite such a catastrophe at any moment.
To investigate, and settle if possible, this vital question, a Court of
Inquiry, composed of four prominent naval officers, was appointed.
They proceeded to Havana, took volumes of testimony, and, after six
weeks of most searching investigation, made a report to the effect that
the Maine was destroyed by two distinct explosions, the first